


Alive

by AsexualPirate



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Time Skip, also let's pretend seteth didn't read the diary, spoilers for seteth's paralgoue with flayn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 15:29:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20155864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsexualPirate/pseuds/AsexualPirate
Summary: What if, instead of a random villager, Seteth is the one to pull Byleth out of the river after the time skip? Contains spoilers for Seteth and Flayn's paralogue.





	Alive

Seteth walked up the riverbank leading towards the monastery, contemplating the series of events that brought him back to this place. It had been over five years since the day the Imperial army had marched on Garreg Mach, over five years since the monastery fell and Rhea disappeared without a trace. Five years since he disappeared, falling off the edge of a cliff, never to be seen again. Seteth’s chest tightened, remembering the echoing scream of his lover as the ground crumbled underneath him. In those five years, while the church searched endlessly for the archbishop, Seteth himself searched relentlessly for the professor that had wormed his way into his heart.  
He hadn’t intended to fall for Byleth. When Rhea first hired the former mercenary to teach the academy, Seteth had been strongly against it. How could he trust this strange, seemingly emotionless man, especially a man who was the son of the former knight captain who’d mysteriously vanished after a fire twenty years prior? His suspicion only grew as he learned more about the new professor, or, more specifically, learned more about how little Byleth seemed to know about his own past. How could someone not be certain of their parentage, or not even know their own age? How could Rhea entrust a relic to someone with such a cloudy past? Yet, he slowly warmed up to Byleth. Seteth saw how much he cared for his students, and how much the professor cared about students not even in his own house. After Byleth rescued Flayn, Seteth had no choice but to finally trust him. He asked Byleth for help with driving the heretics from the Western church away from the shrine of Saint Cichol and the grave of his wife, and the former mercenary agreed, successfully keeping Flayn safe in the process. Seteth opened up to him about the death of his wife and the truth about him being the father of Flayn, and Byleth responded with understanding and had sworn to keep his secret. After that battle, Byleth had begun spending more time with him, inviting him to tea and training with him. His smiles came more frequently, and he opened up to Seteth more and more. Tea times became more frequent, and Seteth found himself seeking out the presence of the other man. Words became smiles, and smiles became soft kisses while hiding out of sight. He hadn’t felt that way about anyone since his wife’s death, but something about Byleth gave him comfort and joy in ways beyond friendship. Even after Byleth changed, his hair and eyes turning green and being imbued with the power of the goddess, Seteth’s affection towards him never changed. When he disappeared that day five years ago, Seteth felt a pain akin to when he lost his wife. Seteth never gave up on the hope of finding him again, however. There was no way the man he loved could have died so unceremoniously.  
Seteth shook his head, refocusing his thoughts to why he was returning to the monastery. Tomorrow was supposed to be the millennium festival, and Seteth wished to visit his former home to pay his respects. He knew in his heart, however, that the real reason he was returning was the glimmer of hope he had that his beloved would appear there alongside the students he’d promised to meet up with. He looked up the river towards Garreg Mach.  
A hint of mint green hair and familiar black armor in the water caught Seteth’s attention, and his breath caught in his throat as he ran towards the river without thinking. He dove into the river and grabbed hold of the other man, dragging him back to shore. He had finally found Byleth. He has finally found his beloved, whose body was distressingly limp and unresponsive in his arms. He laid him down on the river bank, and gently shook the other man’s shoulders to try to rouse him. He looked so pale and fragile. He laid his head on Byleth’s chest, listening for a heartbeat or breath. He heard nothing, and felt nothing. Seteth’s breathing quickened and he choked back tears, fearing that he had lost Byleth for good. He gathered Byleth in his arms and held onto him, sobbing into his chest and placing kisses on still lips, mourning the loss of the best man he had ever known.

“Wake up! You have been asleep for long enough!”  
Byleth slowly came back into awareness, a familiar voice echoing in his head.  
“Who are you?” he replied, unable to place who the voice belonged to.  
“Do not tell me that you’ve already forgotten me, after all I’ve done for you!” the voice replied, indignant. Realization slowly dawned on Byleth.  
“....Sothis?”  
“Yes, that’s me! But more importantly, you must wake up!” Sothis urged.  
“But I’m so sleepy…” Byleth yawned.  
“Too bad! You’ve been gone for long enough, and you are not alone right now!”  
“I’m… not alone?” Byleth questioned.  
“Seteth is with you. Can you not feel his tears, his lips against yours, his sorrow? He never gave up hope, he’s waiting for you…” 

Byleth groaned, his eyes blearily opening to a shadow hovering over him and bright sunlight. The shadow moved, breath catching as he began to stir. As Byleth’s eyes focused he saw Seteth’s face hovering above his own, tears streaking down his cheeks and his eyes looking into his own.  
“S-Seteth?” Byleth croaked out, his throat parched.  
Seteth held onto Byleth tighter and buried his face into his shoulder, his body shaking from joy and from sobbing.  
“Byleth! Y-you’re alive!” Seteth hiccuped, his sobs finally calming down. He pulled away slightly, looking Byleth in the eyes and bringing a shaky hand to cup his cheek. He gently kissed his beloved, eyes closing as Byleth melted into the kiss.  
You’re alive.


End file.
